A program to comprehensively study the local white dwarf population will be undertaken to address fundamental questions concerning the Galactic origin (thin disk, thick disk or halo) of both individual white dwarfs as well as the spectroscopic subpopulations of these stars. This study will also provide important details on the thermal and chemical evolution of white dwarfs and link the local white dwarf population with larger more distant samples such as the white dwarf population in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The population for this study is the 2000 to 2500 white dwarfs listed in the Villanova Catalog of Spectroscopically Identified White Dwarfs. These goals are achieved through the use of newly available photometric, spectroscopic and proper motion data to augment existing data on this population of predominantly local white dwarfs. A fundamental aspect of this proposal is the maintenance and upgrading of the existing Villanova Catalog of Spectroscopically Identified White Dwarfs and the (Arizona) White Dwarf Database, in which all these data sets will reside. Finally, a modest observing program will be conducted to deepen and expand the existing spectroscopic and photometric data for known white dwarfs that will fill key gaps as well as validate the classifications for all stars in the catalog and database.
The database contents (both observed and parameters derived through this work) will be made publicly available via the internet and used by astronomers across several disciplines (Galactic structure, formation, compact object physics, etc.). Multiple undergraduate students will be involved with aspects of the work at both Arizona and Florida Tech. They will participate in the design of the database, its population, and analysis and will have the opportunity to experience scientific research with large data sets.
